Rants and ramblings about life in the suburbs

Sprint customer service experience

I have to give a shout-out for the wonderful customer service experience I recently received from Sprint. I recently returned the telephone I’m using as part of my participation in the Sprint Ambassador Program. I sent the phone back on Saturday, July 1 and expected it to take over a week due to the July 4th holiday. The brand-new phone was sent to me via FedEx on Monday, July 10th.

When I attempted to first use it, I discovered it had not been activated. My first phone was already activated when I received it so I thought this was curious. I called the customer service number that is dedicated to supporting Ambassador Program participants. After some researching, we discovered that my phone number was accidentally cancelled! What was amazing to me is that the customer service rep, Pam, took down my telephone number and called me back to re-activate my phone.

In this age of questionable customer service (i.e., Dell), I was gratified to see a company actually have their reps be an ally of a customer, rather than an antagonist. This is especially gratifying as I am testing this service free and am not a Sprint customer!

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23 thoughts on “Sprint customer service experience”

Are you kidding me? Sprint’s customer service SUCKS! You must have encountered great customer service from them because they know you’ll blog about them.

I can’t believe how bad Sprint’s customer service has deteriorated to. I am not a disgruntled customer — but a truly disappointed one. I used to have a lot of faith in Sprint, but I’ve noticed their customer service getting worse in the past year.

I just had a terrible customer service experience with them and I’ve exhausted enough energy on them. After the phone call, I wanted to read reviews from others about Sprint’s customer service — that’s how I found your page. Other than your blog, all the other reviews have very low ratings for Sprint’s customer service. On top of that, their plans are inferior to other carriers’ plans.

I wanted to give my two cents on Sprint’s customer service and offer a more well-rounded review of Sprint for your readers.

I’ve found that customer service is highly dependent upon the actual person you encounter. Had I reached a different rep, my experience may have been totally different. Because I AM in this test program, my calls may be routed to a dedicated, more experienced representative and my encounter would be different. As I am not a Sprint customer, I cannot speak for other customers — just my own experience. My hope would be that customers are handled no different than I was handled. Customers are actually PAYING for the service whereas I am TESTING a service.

I am extremely frustrated with Sprint (NO Customer Service). It took me 4 calls (two dropped during hold) and 45 minutes today to reach the person I needed to talk with. At the end of my contract, I will not be a Sprint Customer anymore. I have had it with Sprint.

I was a Sprint customer for 15 years and after changing my plan, they were over charging me and shutting off my phone even when I didn’t owe anything! I would drive to their store where I would have to wait to have my phone turned back on and hear them say they were sorry and that it was a mistake; yet it happed 3 times! Then, my bill was never right! Make sure you always check your bill!
As for the coverage, it was good (better than the carrier I use now). But I do agree that the customer service is horrible; to often you can’t even understand the person you are talking with. I have spent hours in the past trying to get things resolved to no avail. I ended up switching carriers and I know my credit will go down because of Sprint, but I’m not going to pay them double what I should just because of their mistakes.

I’ve just had the most exhausting experience with the sprint automated robots they call customer service agents. I would highly advise avoiding dealing with them as they gleefully repeat the same things multiple times without answering actual questions, and always make sure to let you know that ‘their supervisor would just do the same thing anyway’. Impossible to get anything resolved with them.

I have had terrible experiences with SPRINT customer service. You can never talk to the same rep you spoke with. They took down your number but never called you back. This happened on a number of occasions. You talked to a rep, who offered you a really attractive contract to get you to stay with SPRINT.. However, the verbal contract was not honor by SPRINT because the rep never carried out her promise.
Everytime we made some changes to our plan, there was always something that would go wrong. We would have to call again and again to try to resolve the issues. More then often, the issues were never resolved to our satisfaction.
A word of advice: DO NOT SIGN UP WITH SPRINT… IT’S ALL TROUBLE. I DONT CARE WHO YOU USE, BUT NOT SPRINT …

Sprint customer service is horrible! My mother needed a nationwide network and Sprint is the only one in her area. She ordered a phone on via telephone and someone was suppose to call back to confirm the order, well no one did. The next day, she spent 1 hour trying to get through to customer service, and with 3 dropped calls and 2 call transfers, she gave the phone to me to try and get through because she was so frustated! I have now been on hold for 40 min. with one dropped call and one transfer and still no help! I have verizon and have never had this kind of trouble. I would tell her to cancel her order, but this is the only company available.

More horrible story with SPRINT:
They offered a retention contract over the phone. The next day I found out that they didn’t honor the contract because the rep had offered something that she was not supposed to. I called back and asked them to put my old contract back.. So they did that.. However, while we were having this problem, both of our phones just stopped working. Couldn’t make out going calls, people couldn’t call our numbers and no voicemail either. So the following day I called back.. another rep gave me two different numbers and told me those were the numbers on the account. No wonder why our phone didn’t work anymore.. It’s been 3 days since our phones have been out of service.. I’m now on hold waiting for the rep to straighten out the mess..

Another thing I noticed with SPRINT: when you switch over the a new plan, they never tell you the actual cost.. there is always something hiddlen. For example: We switch over to a new plan and we wanted insurance on all phones.. I specifically asked the rep how much is the bottom line price that I would pay each month.. every single time, they would tell you a price without the insurance even though I said we wanted the insurance on the phones.. So be careful when you sign up with sprint (which I would never recommend).. there is always hidden charges that they don’t tell you up front..

I’ve been on hold for more then 30 minutes already.. I think they deliberately create problem with our account just to cause us more frustrations… I’m done with sprint.. I will never sign the contract with them again..

When I came upon your site on 7/18/06, your blog was the second search result on the Google search engine if I searched for: sprint “customer service” (with the quotes). On 7/31/06, I performed the same search query, and I didn’t see your blog come up in the first ten PAGES of the search results!

It’s quite apparent that Sprint put up links to your blog so that your blog would appear near the top of Google’s searches related to Sprint. They were hoping you’d rave about them and write it in your blog — which you did. However, they’ve since deleted the links to your site after a bunch of us wrote about how we weren’t satisfied with Sprint’s customer service. That’s why your blog isn’t showing up even in the first ten pages of the search results. It seems that Sprint abused Google’s search algorithm to mask their poor customer service.

I’m sure other companies do the same thing, but it’s interesting to catch one red-handed. Anyhow, I thought you’d like to learn about this.

they advertise great customer service. that has to be the biggest joke i ever heard. i’ve actually had there customer service dept hang up on me three times. i mean really hang up on me. if that’s not the most disrespectful thing you can do to a customer, i don’t know what is. there so big they think there untouchable.

I will not waste any more of my time (I have spent hours on the phone with Sprint) to detail my Sprint experiences, other to say that since the day I signed up with Sprint, has been a nightmare. Once my contract expires I will never use Sprint again. The customer service representatives are absolute idiots.

Sprint sucks! I was going to leave them, but I re-upped with them when my contract expired because they offered me such a great deal. However, when the bill came due, all of the promises of what the new phones would cost, and the cost of the plan was all messed up. After several hours of calls, they fnally agreed to the origonal deal, and said everyting was ok… Well until the following bill… Then everything was messed up again… I called again, and they said that it was all straightened out…. until the next bill… I am at my witts end… I think I pissed one of the reps off along the way, and she is making changes to my account or something… There is just no way that things could get so messed up between each month…

Sprint holds everyone hostage! You cannot dispute your bill until the following month. I had over 2900 text messaging on my bill which I wanted to dispute. No I couldn’t and had to wait a month when I asked for a print out I was told once yes, twice no and then they gave me corporate. I spoke with corporate and they informed me that I could only get text messaging printouts for the last 7-14 days so I was late. I explained my frustration and was told that my account had on it an ‘absolute no credit’ from fraud who I had been in contact with. The rep said they are next to God and even if they wanted to they couldn’t give me credit or let me see the text messaging. I have never signed up for text messaging nor wanted it. You are charged both incoming and outgoing even if you don’t read it. Beware you have no way of getting around it! Lesson learned. I was tossed back and forth from rep to rep and on the phone for 45 minutes. I did get some good reps but was warned from another rep that it really depends on who you get to answer the phone! That is pretty bad when it just gets more frustrating. I have learned and I will not be continuing with Sprint. I have been with them for almost 4 years. They apparently do not care.

Put me in with the naysayers…I signed up with Sprint over 2 months ago and still have someone else’s name showing up on caller I.D. when I call someone. I’ve been to the store where I signed up and had the manager call Customer Service 3 times. I then called them from home another 3 times, sometimes being switched over to Tech Support. Each of the 6 times, I was told the problem would be corrected within 72 hrs. It wasn’t…Last week, I decided to continue my attempts at a resolution with e-mail support. After a handful of e-mails back and forth and waiting another 72 hrs, it’s still not resolved. Don’t know now if it ever will be, but I’ll keep e-mailing them. Such a simple problem to fix too. Incompetence and terrible customer relations are all I’ve experienced with Sprint so far. Be forewarned…

Sprint is the worst. I signed up for sprint service reluctantly and closed the account in june of 06. Still haven’t gotten my deposit back, and have spent over three hours on hold on the customer no service line.

Hi,
I m going thru one now..
I have email trail of what is happening.
one more thing is that, they don’t let you keep an email trail/chat trail. as their chat program is not working (24/7).
I wanted to see my contract in writing before I agree upon..

let me see.
How/where do you report these type of things?They say one thing on phone and reality is different.
How do you confirm some thing talked over phone?

I HATE SPRINT!!! they are the worst at customer service. You are always speaking to different people in different countries who hardly speak English. Than you are put on hold while the make up answers to all your questions and suddenly you are “disconnected” when you start to get angry. I tried to make a payment online but the screen refused to refresh itself, so i assume the payment didn’t go through but just to make sure i decided to give Sprint a call. The customer serv. rep told me “no no it did not go through” i asked him several times and each time he assured me that the payment did not go through. So i proceeded to make a phone payment. I was shocked and appalled when i checked my bank account the next day and my account has been debited twice. I didn’t think it would be such a hassle to get my money back but to make a long story short i was given the run around by 7 different people who each told me something different. And when i finally did get to someone who “seemed” like they knew what they were talking about i was told i would not be able to receive my money until 5 business days WTF!! i am furious, my only consolation is that my contract is up in January then it’s BYE BYE SPRINT FOREVER!!!!

I disagree with some of the things Sprint CSR’s tell me. When I have a dispute over an obviously ridiculous charge, I am placated & lied to explaining that I will be contacted expediently to resolve my issue. Then nothing happens but a text or voice message directing me to pay all charges or lose service. I then contact Sprint again and explain what has happened and give my dispute number. I am put on hold for a VERY long time so that the rep can confer with a supervisor who never gets on the phone. Again I am told that they will handle this issue and that they are sorry for the mis-handling of this issue. Keep in mind, I have not insisted that they dismiss all charges instantly, but only investigate this dispute and contact me in an appropriate amount of time. This never happens. Again I either get a text or voice message about loss or interruption of service unless I pay up. Then I call again, Again I am assured that the problem will be resolved without interruption until dispute resolution is reached. Then I cannot make outgoing calls, all my calls are re-directed to bill payment at Sprint. Be warned that if someone at Sprint makes a mistake, they still need you to pay for it because an employee who makes a mistake will never admit it and you will then run into an endless chain of employees who get away with passing the buck until so many mistakes are made that the company itself will protect their employees by stonewalling you and cutting service completely until you pay for what you shouldn’t owe. This is a ridiculous business practice as they will fight to get an erroneous $100-200 dollars from a long term customer who is worth thousands per year and risk alienating that customer just for a small amount of money just because they cannot justify eating the cost of their own mistakes. DUH!!!!!!!

1) I made the mistake of buying a Blackberry from a Sprint telemarketer. I travel extensively, and was in need of a new phone so I was actually glad the guy called. He told me that Sprint was offering a special price with rebates galore. Hey, Sign me up! I purchased the phone using a Visa card. The phone I ordered was the wrong one so I went to the Sprint store to exchange it for an upgraded Blackberry World Phone. The store didn’t have one in stock, however the clerk kindly handed me their phone to order it from another department. The clerk then did an exchange using my Visa at the cash register, and I my new phone arrived at my home two days later. Cool.

2) Since I’m not exactly a tech-savvy phone genius, I returned to the Sprint store to get some help setting up my new Blackberry. They were marginally helpful; however they got me fixed up nonetheless.

3) I chose the Blackberry World Phone because as I said, I travel extensively. I was leaving for China in a few days and just as I do every month, I dial *3 to pay my Sprint bill. I was a bit shocked when the lovely robo-woman told me that my new balance was $1100.00! As I said, I purchased one phone, exchanged it for another, all on my Visa card. My normal phone bill is around 100.00 per month, and now I’m looking at an $1100.00 phone bill. I called “customer service” immediately to get to the bottom of it.

Oh my God! I spent two days, and a total of 9 hours on the phone dealing with one idiot after another. In two days, I spoke with 29 different people. I was hung up on, mysteriously disconnected with, put on perma-hold, and treated like dirt by these evil mutants employed by Sprint. I was yelled at, threatened, called a liar, insulted in a half a dozen other ways, and still nobody could figure out why my phone bill was $1100.00.

I had only two days to go until I’m on a plane for China, and I’m going through a living hell with Sprint! I was only in the US for a total of four days in between trips abroad. Time that I could have spent with family or friends was consumed by having to deal with Sprint “customer service”.

On the third day, I return to the Sprint store to try to resolve the issue. The manager of the store dialed some kind of secret magical number and handed me their phone to speak with some big chief, or the “king of Sprint”, or whatever. The guy was very pleasant, and tried to help me unravel the whole mess. Turns out, I was charged for three phones. They charged my Visa bill, and there were overlapping charges on my Sprint bill. He credited me for part of the damage; however I was told that the credit for $700.00 on my Sprint bill wouldn’t show up until my next monthly statement.

At this point, I was just happy to know that I had a working telephone to take to China, and I was glad to know that the issue was more or less resolved. Had I not been on such a hectic travel schedule, I would have dropped Sprint immediately.
4) One month later: I return from China, dial *3 to pay my Sprint bill, only to hear robo-woman’s voice telling me that I’m past due for the amount of $700.00. Now, I’ve never been late with paying my Sprint bill. In fact, I usually pay early. I’ve been a loyal Sprint customer for eight years. I didn’t use my phone in China, except to answer annoying messages from Sprint which I was receiving daily (Apparently, when you have an open dispute with them, they try to annoy you into submission by hounding you to death across the globe. You can run, but you can’t hide!)

So once again, rather than go through another two days of degradation trying to resolve anything on the phone with “customer service”, I drive to the Sprint store. During my jet-lagged attempt to get some answers from the guy in the store, I was told that this was somehow my fault because “we told you it would take a month for the credit to show up on your statement”. So let me get this straight; You’re scolding me for buying one of your phones, you’ve charged me for three, and now I’m just supposed to lump it? He also suggested that I pay the bill, even though I don’t owe them money, and wait until yet another month goes by for the billing department to straighten it out. Rather than get violent with the guy, I marched out of there and promptly called “customer service” again to see if I could find some answers.

Finally, I get someone who isn’t on drugs to speak with. The “supervisor” more or less got it straightened out. It’s been almost three months, and I’m still waiting for that rebate. Never did get that “special offer”. After the mental anguish Sprint put me through, they should give me free phones and free service for life. I would drop Sprint, however I’m in China again this month, and I’m heading to Italy after Christmas. As grueling as my travel schedule is, I don’t have time to change service right now. Whenever I can take a break, dropping Sprint is high on my to-do list!

Funny side note:

While I was in China last month, I realized that I forgot to call Hertz before I left to reserve car to upon my return to the States. Since I really didn’t know how to dial US directory assistance from China to get the number for Hertz Rent-A-Car, I called Sprint to ask “customer service” for help. I explained to the woman that I was in China trying to reach directory assistance in the US so I could make a rental car reservation. The woman at Sprint “customer service” responded by yelling “Sir, we are not a travel agent”, and then hung up on me.